A Flintstones Christmas Carol
A Flintstones Christmas Carol is a 1994 American animated made-for-TV movie based on the original series, The Flintstones and on the holiday novel of the same name by Charles Dickens. This was directed by Joanna Romersa. Plot The Bedrock Community Players is mounting A Christmas Carol, and all of the town's citizens are either planning to attend or be involved in the production: Barney Rubble is playing Bob Cragit, with Betty as Mrs. Cragit and his son Bamm-Bamm as Tiny Tim; Mr. Slate is Jacob Marbley; Wilma Flintstone is serving as the stage manager, while her daughter Pebbles plays Martha Cragit; even Dino has a role, playing the Cragit's family pet. It is Fred, though, who has landed the leading role of Ebonezer Scrooge. Unfortunately, he has let his role go to his head, thinking himself a star and spending all of his time rehearsing his lines rather than focusing on his job or family. On Christmas Eve, in his rush to get to work, Fred forgets that he must take Pebbles to "cave care", and later to pick her up from cave care. When Fred arrives at the theater, he discovers a furious Wilma, who breaks down in tears as she tells Fred about his mistake. The play finally begins with narrator Charles Brickens reading the opening lines, and after a momentary bout of stage fright, Fred enters. The play proceeds as normal. As the second act opens, Wilma and Betty discover that Garnet, the woman playing the Ghost of Christmas Past, has contracted the "Bedrock Bug," a flu-like illness. As stage manager, Wilma is left to play the part herself. During the next scene, at Fezziwig's Christmas party, Betty informs Wilma that Maggie has come down with the Bedrock Bug as well; Wilma dons her costume and plays Belle. The third act begins with the hooded figure of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come appearing before Scrooge; he shows the elderly man an abandoned gravestone marked with the words "EBONEZER SCROOGE." The scene shifts to Scrooge's bedchamber—he is alive, and he discovers that it is Christmas morning. He recruits a passing boy (played by the same child who Fred entrusted with his presents) to purchase a prize "Turkeysaurus" and have it sent to the Cragits for a feast. Scrooge prepares to go out and explore the city on Christmas morning; along the way, he meets Wilma, who has taken on the role of one of the members of the Piltdown Charitable Foundation, as the original actor has caught the Bedrock Bug. Fred acts as if the woman is Belle (much to narrator Brickens's frustration, as the ad-libbing is not in his script), and begs for both her and Wilma's forgiveness, admitting his recent selfishness and promising that he has changed his attitudes. Wilma reluctantly plays along. The play ends with the narrator informing the audience of the permanent change in the elderly man. Bamm-Bamm forgets his line "God bless us, everyone!," leaving Pebbles to make the declaration herself. When the curtain falls, the company drops Fred and scolds him "for being such a Scrooge." Fred apologizes, informing Wilma that he has finally realized that his friends and family, rather than his role in the production, are what matter most. As the company begins to depart, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come takes off his hood, revealing himself as Dino, who took the part after the regular actor Philo came down with the Bedrock Bug. A changed Fred says that when the Flintstones get home, he's going to make dinner. Unfortunately, however, after he says this, he comes down with the flu, and Wilma decides to make dinner, since the Bedrock Bug "lasts for a day". Voice Cast Notes/Trivia *This is the fourth and final Christmas-themed special in The Flintstones franchise, including "Christmas Flintstone" (1964), A Flintstone Christmas (1977) and A Flintstone Family Christmas (1993). *The Flintstones are shown to be subscribers of The Daily Granite, the newspaper that Wilma and Betty worked for in the Captain Caveman segments of The Flintstone Comedy Show. *Fred describes the stuffed pigasaurus that he buys for Pebbles as a "Jurassic pork", an obvious nod to the film franchise, Jurassic Park. *When the Rubbles are walking offstage at the end, Philo Quartz is shown walking by in the background, looking perfectly fine, despite that he was stated to have caught the Bedrock Bug. Category:Films Category:Television specials Category:Christmas productions